Strawberry Shortcake Sunday

Good afternoon, everybody! Welcome to this week’s Geek Month theme — Retro! Today’s awesomely creative post if filled with throwback that I know you’ll all love! Danielle from On the Upcycle has joined us this week with her super cute upcycle themed around everyone’s favourite dessert girl — Strawberry Shortcake! 😀

When Elise asked me to be a part of Geek Month, I was truly honored! Of course all of the themes and ideas were exciting to me. I am a true “Geek” at heart and would have loved to create something dedicated to any of the weekly themes offered. Despite this, Retro week seem like the best fit, as I often describe myself as a bit of a “throwback.” I am a child of the 1980’s and I remember all the great cartoons I grew up with. I wanted to pay homage to them all, but would have to settle for just one..for now!
I saw a pair of these kids chairs in the Goodwill Store. I passed them by a few times, but decided to buy them during a 50% off furniture sale at the store. I love kid’s furniture and find it hard to resist.

I also enjoy thumbing through the records. It reminds me of my youth which was the hay day of record stores and book stores. A hobby mostly lost to the digital age. Not only am I a fan of vinyl, but I also love the artwork that went along with the music. I was amazed to find a truly “retro” Strawberry Shortcake LP, from 1980! The record did not appear in playable condition, but the cover would be great to decoupage on the kids chair seat and it cost only $1.00! Then my idea and contribution to Geek Month came to me at once. Even though the record was damaged, I could still utilize the record also, in true “On the Upcycle” fashion, Kids Retro Strawberry Shortcake chair with matching record table was born!

I cleaned up the chair, tightened it with an Allen wrench, and took it outside. I sprayed the chair with a white primer to prepare it for painting. I placed the chair aside to dry. I took the record cover, and cut it neatly in half with scissors. I set the front cover aside and cut out some of the characters from the back cover. I would add these to the chair later.

I placed the front of the cover, face down on the table. I placed the chair seat on top and traced it with a black marker. I cut the tracing with a pair of scissors. I then applied Mod Podge generously to the chair seat with a foam craft brush and carefully placed the album cover on to the chair.

I applied the Mod Podge over the top of the seat and cover, and placed aside to dry. I then began painting the chair following the “Strawberry Shortcake” themed colors. I chose Pink, Red, Green. This was the most labor intensive and time consuming part of the project. I applied as many coats as needed allowing the acrylic paint to dry between coats.

Once the chair was dry, I added the finishing touches and the additional characters to the seat back. I applied Mod Podge to the entire chair to seal it. Now, I turned my attention to the record table.

I had an old metal planter table that has been sitting outside unused. I cleaned it off and spray painted it red. I allowed it to dry. I took the record and cleaned it with a damp cloth. I used a hot glue gun to adhere the record to the planter.

I would have loved a table and chair such as this in 1980! It was a lot of fun to make in 2013, and a fitting tribute to the 80’s kids TV I grew up with and loved so much! I am happy to share this project with all my geeky friends and I hope you enjoyed my contribution to Retro week!

Materials:

Kids Chair

White Spray Primer

Acrylic Paint

Paint Brushes, Scissors, Foam Craft Brush

Mod Podge

Record of Choice With Cover*

Metal Planter

High Heat Hot Glue gun

Red Spray Paint

About:My name is Danielle and I am a happily married full time working mom of a very active 2 year-old. I am an artist by nature, and I am happiest when I am actively creating. I specialize in upcycling thrift store furniture and other used household items. I re-style, and repurpose these items using decoupage, paint, fabric, and paper, just to name a few. This is a wonderful way to recycle and craft green while remaining on a budget. I also dabble in the fine arts and photography. One of my favorite hobbies and jobs is that of “family historian” as I am also interested in family history and genealogy and I post about this from time to time. I am an avid music, history and sports fan and love to incorporate art, music and pop culture into my creations.

Isn’t that just an awesome way to bring some life back to something vintage? How clever! Stay tuned for more retro coming at you this week!
Cheers!!
— Elise M. Gross